[Mod Discussion Thread](Illusion) Artificial Academy 2

**Inquisitor** · June 10th, 2014, 08:47 AM

Backup mod discussion of AA2.

==[ Modding ]=======================

SB3Utility(GUI+Script) 0.6.3alpha by enimaroah
SviExTool 1.41 by enimaroah
BPSTool by enimaroah (for adding/adjusting physics on hair) New!
Refer to the first post in the PPD mod discussion
PPVERDecrypt by chie65536 (used to decrypt/encrypt .pp files), remember to add this to PPVERDecrypt.ini
Tutorial: Adding new slots for custom content by Snooley

==[ Useful Links ]=======================

**Inquisitor** · June 10th, 2014, 08:48 AM

Guys, I have been messing around with the LST_INSERT feature of Illusion Wizzard (IW) and it WORKS* with AA2! The reason for me looking into it was because of the latest hair mod by Snooley. As you can read from his post the mod is relatively complex to install in part because it involves .lst file editing.

IW LST_INSERT feature
IW will insert the lines into the given .lst file and it should even warn you if there is a conflict.

What I did
What I did was create a modfile.txt by using lst_compare (I semi-followed this ancient tutorial). I ended up with this modfile.txt (could have been created manually, but I chose to use the tool).

Code:

jg2e_00_02_02_00.lst	0	1	57
jg2e_00_02_02_00.lst	57	1	jg2e%s02_02_00.pp	%s00_22_56_%02d.xx		%s00_22_56_%02d.%s		A00_20_00_00_00.tga

I then added a folder called LST_INSERT in the wizzard archive and copied my modfile.txt to the folder.

The folder structure inside the wizzard ready archive called, "[AA2][Hair][Mr MC][Snooley].7z" is thus like this:
--[AA2][Hair][Mr MC][Snooley].txt
--[AA2][Hair][Mr MC][Snooley]1.jpg
--[AA2][Hair][Mr MC][Snooley]2.jpg
--AA2_MAKE
----jg2e02_02_00
------AS00_22_56_00.xx
----LST_INSERT
------modfile.txt

This mod can be applied with IW after making a .lst file mod like the one darkhound did for AG3.

lst slot expansion mod
What darkhound's mod does is simply add empty lines at the end of the .lst file:

It's something that we can easily make, but maybe we will have to wait until the dust has settled after the release (DLC hair will overwrite the modded DLC files etc).

Conclusion
It's relatively easy to make a wizzard ready mod with lst file insertion. However, for it to work somebody will have to create an lst slot expansion mod. Making such a mod is also easy, but maybe now is not a good time. For us to avoid collisions we will have to maintain a list of mods on the wiki and help other modders to pick a free slot. I have the mod if anybody wants to try it out (though it requires manual lst slot expansion).

Thoughts anyone?

*) For it to work we will have to create an lst slot expansion mod that will add empty lines to the .lst files.

**Inquisitor** · June 11th, 2014, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by Snooley

If this method even warns someone incase of an Conflict then this is the best way to go, without a doubt.

This sounds excellent! It also saves the modmakers the need to write out complex installation guides. XD
...

Well, I have investigated further and created a wizzard ready lst expansion mod that expands the back hair slots to 70. As you can see it adds disabled buttons:

(I must commend Illusion for their easily moddable design)

Important: I found out that modfile.txt ofc shouldn't contain the first line (so my example above wouldn't work), so it should look like this:

Code:

jg2e_00_02_02_00.lst	57	1	jg2e%s02_02_00.pp	%s00_22_56_%02d.xx		%s00_22_56_%02d.%s		A00_20_00_00_00.tga

I then applied your mod and then the Maker looks like this (and the new hair works):

Finally I created a second mod (actually just a copy of your mod), but with a modfile.txt looking like this:

Code:

jg2e_00_02_02_00.lst	58	1	jg2e%s02_02_00.pp	%s00_22_57_%02d.xx		%s00_22_57_%02d.%s		A00_20_00_00_00.tga

I then applied the second mod and then the Maker looks like this (and the new hair works - even though it's just the same .xx file as the other mod):

Originally Posted by Snooley

...
Only Question is, how do we find out how many empty slots we can make at max.? Or has this Number allready been figured out? (not sure if I read something about that)
...

Well darkhound only added up to 100, but I think it can be much higher (at least 255). It most likely depends on how much room there is for buttons, so the maximum will probably be individual for each hair/accessory type.

Originally Posted by Snooley

...
Also, I'd like to try out the Wizzard ready file. Various People told me for some time now to make my mods Wizzard ready, I just never knew how to. XD
Guess now would be a good time to find out and the Wizzard ready MC Hair would be a good template!
...

I have sent you the two mods: [AA2][Hair][Mr MC][Snooley].7z and [AA2][lst slot expansion][Inquisitor].7z (only expands the back hair slots to 70). Please DO NOT share until somebody has made a proper lst slot expansion mod.

Note: When applying the lst expansion mod with IW designed for AA2 Maker, you may see this warning:

Just click OK. It's a "feature" of running PPVerDecrypt from the .bat file and I dunno how to fix it...

**enimaroah** · June 13th, 2014, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by bigmoneywill @ HF Yesterday, 08:33 PM (UTC+1)

I'm trying to create xdiff files, but IM doesn't seem to be able to import sviex files. So I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do to create them, if it's even possible right now for AA2.

IM can create xdiff files from MQOs as well. And this is how you work with SB3UGS on single SVI units inside of their hosting SVIEX units.

The SVIEXtool lets you know which submeshes are targeted from an SVIEX. E.g. the second submesh of the body.

Select this submesh in the Mesh Editor. It will show with highlighted edges in the renderer.

Go to the SVI[EX] Juggler (Alt-N) and

Select the SVIEX you want to work on.
Make sure that the Selected option for Submeshes is selected.

When you Copy to Meshes now, only that single SVI is copied to the selected submesh. You would export it as MQO. Do that for the slim, normal and chubby SVIEX and you have three MQOs for IM to create xdiff files with.

When you Copy to SVI/SVIEX, only the submesh's data is copied into the SVIEX, which means: only that specific SVI.

Originally Posted by lillitys @ HF Yesterday, 09:22 (UTC+1)

My first problem with the SVIEX-files. I cannot save the changes I make. Clicking "Apply" in SB3U gives error message: No tool registered for .sviex supports encoding of ppFormat AA2 Trial.

You should use the SVIEXtool only for decoding and with the elliptical option. This is just for letting you know what type of information is kept in the SVIEX and which submeshes are targeted by it. But you could decode without elliptical option as well and also register the tool for encoding with "/encode {0}" argument. This might be okay for testing changes on single vertices, but when you have an idea about what you are doing you should switch to the SVI[EX] Juggler for swapping data of whole submeshes/SVIs and collections of meshes and SVIEXs.

**Inquisitor** · June 13th, 2014, 08:41 AM

Thanks for posting some information about the elusive sviex!

Regarding images I recommend http://i.want.tf/to/. It's also hosted by the great anime-sharing guys and it even has a plugin that allows you to instantly upload a picture from anywhere on the web. The advantage over attachments is that it can be used at both AS and HF without problems. In addition an upload comes with BB code, even for thumbnails.

**TheShadow** · June 14th, 2014, 12:26 AM

Now it's 4 AM, i will leave it downloading while working on the launcher tomorrow.. until then:

For No DVD [email protected] of DLC1 (AA2Play.exe)
1236 75 ==> EB
2002A5 75 06 ==> 90 90

**Shireece** · June 14th, 2014, 08:38 AM

After looking at the hair dlc (03plus archive) it seems it's not necessary to adjust the original lst files in jg2e00_00_00.pp if you include a lst with your xx/xa in your custom pp.

For example, the hair dlc file jg2e02_00_02.pp contains AS00_20_49_00.xx, AS00_20_49_00.xa, AS00_20_49_00.bps and a jg2p_00_00_00_00.lst with a single line containing:

Code:

0	49	0	0	AS00_20_49_00.xx	jg2e%s02_00_02.pp	%s00_20_49_%02d.xx	%s00_20_49_%02d.%s	1	%sAS00_20_49_00.xa	A00_20_00_00_00.tga	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

I created a jg2e02_00_99.pp with custom xx, xa and bsp files and a lst containing only the extra entries and the new slots show up in maker.

I'm not sure if this affects the current project of preventing lst conflicts with regards to slots, but at the very least people making hair mods don't have to edit the original lst files in jg2e00_00_00.pp, so no destructive conflicts are possible if every modder provides his own .lst contained in their .pp. No use of lstmerge seems necessary if I understand this correctly, only a central repository indicating which slots are in use, taking into account the available flipped slots of symmetric hair styles.

If all of this was common knowledge my apologies, I stayed awake while waiting for my aa2 download to finish and am not very alert